washingtonpost.com – After stagnating in the mid-1990s, progress toward closing the earnings gap between men and women in America basically stopped in the last decade. The most recent data show that women earn, on average, around 20 percent less than men. Some cite discrimination, the time off that women take to give birth or care for their families, or their reluctance to negotiate for higher pay. Others say that women self-select into lower-paying jobs, or are, for whatever reason, less productive or competitive in the workplace.